Worth leaving the sofa for?

The socially distanced workout rules

A ban on backstroke, weightlifting ‘pods’ and some extreme HIIT shelved (for now)… Lucy Dunn gets the low-down as sports centres prepare to reopen

Ever since the announcement that gyms and swimming pools in England can finally reopen from 25 July, the fitness world has been busy behind the scenes ensuring it is ready. Huw Edwards, CEO of Ukactive, an advisory group for public and privately owned gyms around the country, has been working with the Government, Public Health England and SAGE to create new safety guidelines. He wants to dispel the idea that gyms are, as Nicola Sturgeon said, virus ‘hotspots’.

In fact, Edwards points out we have a lot to look forward to. ‘In many respects your workouts are going to be a much nicer experience,’ he says.

Social distancing will mean fewer people in your class, which is good as you’ll get more attention from the instructor; bad if you’re a backof-the-class coaster like me. You will be asked to book a timed slot to avoid rush hours, although Edwards anticipates these will be a thing of the past now that a rise in working from home has meant ‘office hours’ are more fluid. And when it comes to test-and-tracing, gyms will have details of all attendees on file.

‘Since the crisis, more people are recognising the importance of being fit for fighting off Covid-19,’ he says, underlining the urgent link between exercise and our mental and physical well-being. He points to evidence that lockdown has considerably impacted how much many of us move: ‘We have lost those peaks of activity we used to have when we were going about our normal working day. We’ve become more sedentary than we were when we were in the office.’ These observations are backed up by a recent poll of 2,000 adults, which found that activity levels have fallen by a quarter since lockdown and a third of us have gained weight.

So what will our old favourites look like? There will be a host of standard measures including two-metre social distancing, amped-up ventilation, a maximum gym capacity based on 100sq ft per person, rigorous cleaning protocols, all towels banned from studios and gym floors, and attendees encouraged to arrive and leave in their kit. Face-to-face workouts will be banned. In addition to this, gyms will add their own extras to boost consumer confidence and staff safety. Here are some of the things you can expect.

Mark Sesnan is CEO of GLL, a social enterprise that runs more than 150 public pools around the country, including the London Aquatics Centre in Queen Elizabeth Park. He stresses that the water is the safest part of a pool as ‘chlorinated water will kill off any bugs’. The risk of transmission is person to person, which is why socially distanced swimming will be the name of the game going forward (the Government stipulates that pool capacity should allow 6sq m per bather): ‘We will be doubling the width of the lanes and also discouraging backstroke – this is mainly to stop the disease being possibly breathed out in the air, but also to prevent people from bumping into each other as they swim.’ Along with these measures, Sesnan says swimmers will be expected to come ‘beach-ready’, change poolside and leave their possessions there. After swimming, people will be able to use the changing rooms to have showers and get dressed, and leave the building by a different route. Weekends will allow family sessions (in bubbles), but other than that, it’s single swimmers only. londonaquaticscentre.org